The extraction of La(III), Gd(III), and Lu(III) with 18-crown-6 (18C6) has been studied using pentadecafluorooctanoate (PDFO) as a counter anion. Very high extractability of La(III) was observed in various organic solvents such as benzene, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, and nitrobenzene. The predominant species extracted into benzene was found to be Ln(PDFO)3 (18C6), and the extraction constants (Kex,s1=[Ln(PDFO)3 (18C6)]org/[Ln3+][PDFO]3[18C6]org) were 1013.12 for La(III), 109.74 for Gd(III), and 109.67 for Lu(III). These values are 1010 times higher than those in the trichloroacetate-18C6 system reported previously. The present PDFO-18C6 system was superior to the picrate- and hexafluoroacetylacetonate-18C6 system for the separation efficiency of light lanthanides(III).